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General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and branching base; stems several to numerous, relatively sparsely hairy with coarse, stiff-spreading and (especially upward) short, appressed, straight hairs, 0.3-1 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves usually well-developed, persistent, oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, stalked, 6-35 cm long and to 4 cm wide; stem leaves also well-developed, 5-20 cm long, 7-20 mm wide, the lower oblanceolate and stalked, the upper narrowly elliptic to oblong and unstalked, reduced upward, short appressed-hairy or coarsely stiff-hairy, entire, alternate.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several clusters with leafy bracts at the base, tending to be shorter, wider, and looser than that of H. floribunda; petals blue, fused at base into a short, narrow tube that spreads (5-11 mm wide) abruptly at top to 5 lobes, with 5 minutely pimply, yellow or whitish bulges.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, with marginal, barb-tipped prickles mostly distinct to the base, facial prickles several (usually 4-10), much shorter than marginal.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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